A computer network includes a variety of computing devices that communicate and share resources and data. A medical imaging environment, for example, may include a number of networked devices including a medical imaging modality that generates medical images of a patient, a diagnostic view station for displaying the images, an output device for printing the images on film or other media, and an archive system for storing the images. These devices are often collectively referred to as a Picture Archival and Retrieval System (PACS), and may communicate using a number of protocols. The American College of Radiology and National Electrical Manufacturers Association, for example, developed one such protocol referred to as Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM). In general, DICOM defines vendor-independent data formats and data transfer services for digital medical images.
In many conventional networks, the devices communicate over a packet-based network by dividing the data into small blocks called packets, which are individually routed across the network from a source device to a destination device. The destination device extracts the data from the packets and assembles the data into its original form. Dividing the data into packets enables the source device to resend only those individual packets that may be lost during transmission.
Certain devices, referred to as routers, maintain routing information that describes routes through the network. A “route” can generally be defined as a path between two locations on the network. Upon receiving an incoming packet, the router examines information within the packet to identify the destination for the packet. Based on the destination, the router forwards the packet in accordance with the routing information.
The routers often maintain the routing information, typically in the form of one or more routing tables. The form and contents of the routing tables often depends on the routing algorithm implemented by the router. Typically, networked medical imaging systems make use of general-purpose routers that perform the routing functions without knowledge of the particular medical images and associated patient data.